Erdogan urges for 'common stance' for Palestine

By Aynur Ekiz

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Wednesday urged the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries to develop a "common stance" on the Gaza killings in a phone call with leaders from Indonesia, Sudan and Qatar.

Erdogan's phone call with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir came after at least 62 Palestinian demonstrators were martyred and hundreds injured by cross-border Israeli gunfire on Monday.

The leaders also discussed the agenda for the upcoming extraordinary OIC meeting on Friday in Istanbul on the climbing tension in Palestine and Washington's relocation of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Erdogan said the international community should speak out for Palestinians' suffering and called for a firm and common stance by the OIC.

Monday’s demonstration had coincided with Israel’s 70th anniversary -- an event Palestinians refer to as “The Catastrophe” -- and the relocation of Washington’s Israel embassy to Jerusalem, which also took place Monday.

Since the Gaza rallies began on March 30, more than 100 Palestinian demonstrators have been martyred by cross-border Israeli army gunfire.

Last week, the Israeli government said the ongoing border protests constituted a “state of war” in which international humanitarian law did not apply.